Rick Rubin Was Just a Prop in the Promotional Videos for Jay-Z's Album

Rubin: "It was a little difficult-- after just coming from the Kanye sessions-- to listen to Jay's album..."

Here's another interesting (hilarious?) layer to add to the tale of Kanye West's Yeezus vs. Jay-Z's forthcoming Magna Carta Holy Grail: Rick Rubin, who appears in the Samsung ad/promotional videos for Jay's new record, did not actually have any hand in producing it. He was merely used as an advertiorial prop, which can be interpreted any number of ways given the news of Rubin's very heavy involvement in the recent completion of Kanye's Yeezus.

"The point of me being in the commercials was that he [Jay-Z] was filming a documentary and he asked me-- I imagine he is comfortable talking to me-- to come listen to the songs with him and just talk about the songs," Rubin told XXL. "Just listen to it and talk about it, and that's what we did. It was fun." Note that Rubin is, fittingly, pictured reclining on a couch in the footage.

But here's the real kicker, the knife in Jay's Samsung-powered heart: "I liked what I heard, but it was a little difficult-- after just coming from the Kanye sessions-- to listen to Jay's album, because they're so different," Rubin said. "I was in a very alternative and progressive headspace, and Jay's record is a more traditional hip-hop record."

Magna Carta Holy Grail is out on July 4 digitally. Revisit the promo video in which Jay-Z discusses his song about Blue Ivy with Rubin, which now reads like a parody: